In general, the management and ordering of pharmaceuticals for an organization, such as a hospital pharmacy department, is an expensive endeavor. Oftentimes, pharmacy departments have some of the highest expenses in a hospital. As such, in today's cost sensitive health environment, healthcare organizations are constantly challenging their pharmacy departments to reduce costs and spending.
While many factors contribute to high administrative costs, one contributing factor is the number of drugs an organization needs to track and/or order. In an effort for a health organization to better control its costs, the organization usually needs to access accurate pricing quotes for drugs offered through multiple manufacturers. However, the same or similar drug may be offered in many different package sizes, routes of administration, strength, dosage forms and the like. Adding to this complexity, the generic drug market is expanding at an exponential rate with new companies producing generically equivalent products. As such, a particular drug may be known by many different names such as a trademarked name of a drug or its generic or chemical name.
Due to these complexities, many healthcare providers utilize supply chain management companies that have created systems which aggregate vast amounts of drug information and provide this information to healthcare providers. Providers use these various systems to aid with the management of drug information and supply contracts associated with these drugs. By utilizing this information, healthcare providers are able to better control costs, increase their negotiating power with drug suppliers during contract negotiations, increase the accuracy of their orders, and facilitate quicker payment resolution. However, due to differences in product naming conventions, manufacturer's product descriptions, strengths, and dosages and the like amongst the same or similar active ingredients of a drug, much of the aggregated data cannot be easily cross-referenced according to the generic name across various manufacturers that produce a drug. For example, oftentimes a drug manufacturer will sell its trademarked brand of drug without ever referring to the active ingredient or generic name of the drug. As such, it is difficult for a healthcare provider to obtain the best contract purchase price or to reconcile inventory projections and usage.
Thus, a longtime need exists for a system and method that captures and organizes drug product information at the generic level so that a comparison can be made across various manufacturers.